Support the JCC

At the JCC, inclusion is a longstanding commitment to ensuring that every individual feels welcomed, supported, and valued. While many of our programs are broadly accessible, true belonging often requires individualized support. The Inclusion Program exists to meet those needs with intention, expertise, and care.

For more than 30 years, the JCC has worked to remove physical, social, and emotional barriers that can prevent full participation in community life. Children and families navigating developmental, cognitive, or physical disabilities are fully integrated into JCC programs, with personalized supports that allow them to thrive alongside their peers.

The Inclusion Program provides dedicated, highly trained staff who offer individualized support in preschool, summer camp, and year-round programming. These supports are tailored to each child’s needs, fostering independence, confidence, and meaningful connection while strengthening the entire community.

Demand for inclusion services continues to grow. Each summer, the program maintains a waitlist for children with developmental disabilities. Participation is driven entirely by word of mouth from families who have experienced the impact of inclusive programming firsthand. Last summer alone, 120 children were supported in Camp Jaycee through the Inclusion Program, all fully integrated into their camp experiences with individualized care.

Inclusion at the JCC means creating a community where differences are embraced, potential is recognized, and everyone has the opportunity to belong. Through this work, the JCC continues to model what a truly inclusive Jewish community can, and should, be.

JCompany Youth Theatre cultivates multi-talented, well-rounded young artists by offering comprehensive training both onstage and behind the scenes. Students may focus on acting, singing, and dancing, explore technical theatre and production, or engage in both, developing confidence, creativity, and collaboration through professional-caliber theatre experiences.

This award-winning program serves children ages 4 through 18 and is led by seasoned industry professionals who create a supportive, high-expectations environment modeled after professional theatre practice. Participants receive hands-on instruction in performance, stage presence, and storytelling, as well as sound, lighting, microphones, set design, and stage management—learning how each role contributes to a successful production.

Through rehearsals and live performances, students build communication skills, problem-solving abilities, and emotional intelligence. JCompany welcomes everyone, regardless of gender identity, religious affiliation, ethnic background, sexual orientation, or economic status. Grounded in values such as focus, willingness, appreciation, professionalism, empathy, respect, and support, JCompany ensures that every student, whether performing, producing, or doing both. grows as an artist and as an individual, onstage and beyond.

Now in its 36th year, the San Diego International Jewish Film Festival stands as one of the region’s most enduring and dynamic cultural touchstones. Each season, the festival presents a thoughtfully curated selection of compelling films, many not available on streaming platforms, often featuring prominent Israeli directors and West Coast or Southern California premieres.

Over the course of 11 days and 40 films, the SDIJFF brings together audiences in theatres and online to experience powerful storytelling that reflects the depth, diversity, and complexity of Jewish life around the world. Beyond the screen, the festival fosters meaningful conversation through filmmaker appearances, panel discussions, and community dialogue that deepen understanding and connection across cultures.

Philanthropic support ensures that the San Diego International Jewish Film Festival remains bold, accessible, and artistically excellent. Through this support, the festival continues to elevate Jewish voices, build bridges, and strengthen our community through the transformative power of cinema.

Shabbat San Diego at the JCC reimagines one of Judaism’s oldest traditions as a powerful catalyst for rest, connection, and community. Through welcoming, accessible Shabbat experiences, the JCC creates spaces where people can slow down, gather meaningfully, and engage with Jewish ritual in ways that feel both rooted and relevant.

From communal meals and challah baking to Shabbat Markets and interfaith Shine a Light Shabbat gatherings, these programs bring thousands of people together each year strengthening relationships within the Jewish community while also building understanding and connection beyond it.

Shine a Light Shabbat extends the joy and meaning of Shabbat to churches and other faith-based communities throughout San Diego County, creating opportunities for people of different faiths, or no faith, to experience Jewish tradition alongside Jewish community members. Grounded in the belief that personal relationships and shared experiences are among the most effective ways to counter antisemitism, Shine a Light Shabbats have been held at over 40 churches and have engaged more than 1,000 participants to date.

Through creative, contemporary expressions of Shabbat, the JCC continues to engage families, individuals, and partners across San Diego, nurturing renewal, spirituality, and a deep sense of communal belonging, week after week.

Shalom Baby has been welcoming San Diego’s youngest Jewish community members and their families for 25 years, celebrating the arrival of newborns while gently guiding parents into a caring, connected community. Families are embraced through thoughtfully curated gift baskets, playgrounds, social gatherings, holiday celebrations, and trusted resource guides that help ease the transition into parenthood.

Support begins even before birth, as expectant mothers are placed into small cohorts based on their due dates that allow relationships to form long before a baby arrives. In those early months, when isolation, uncertainty, and exhaustion are common, Shalom Baby provides a vital space for mothers to find reassurance, shared experience, and emotional support alongside others navigating the same moment in life.

From just a few weeks old, babies and their caregivers engage in play, music, and early learning experiences that nurture development while strengthening bonds between families. Over the past 25 years, Shalom Baby has touched the lives of more than 7,000 families, fostering confidence, connection, and a lasting sense of belonging, right from the very beginning.